Enabling power of the Atonement

This week was so great! We had Elder Nelson from the 70 come and he answered so many questions that really was a strength to my testimony! He taught a lot about how we need to be agents that ACT and that aren't ACTED upon. It just infused into my heart a desire to ACT the rest of my life. And he said something really interesting, that SATAN wants us to be acted upon. So he gets us to be lazy, and gets us addicted to things. It was powerful.

This week I have learned a lot about the redeeming and enabling power of the atonement. The redeeming power makes bad men good and the enabling power makes good men better. I always knew about the redeeming power, because that has helped me my whole life. When I have sinned I have turned to God to be forgiven, and I have felt forgiven too!  But it's taken 18 months of a mission to realize what the enabling power can do. It's there for us daily, to give us strength to keep on going! And Holy Smokes have I used it this week! When I have felt broken, I have prayed my little heart out and then went to work, and it was as if nothing happened that morning! I can feel it making me better and it's helped me to feel how much Heavenly Father loves me.

I got a phone call from a sister who has been struggling because she is going home soon (She goes home with me!) And she is so stressed, she has had a migraine for 3 days straight! So we went over to their apartment. I stayed with her, and my companion went to work with hers. It was SO good! I was able to motivate her to get to work, and share my testimony of the enabling power of the atonement! After I chatted with her, she said her migraine was gone and that she wanted to finish her mission strong. It felt so good to be able to share some of my struggles with her. I know Christ knows exactly how we all feel! And it blows my mind that he loves everyone so equally! Even the people that we may be upset with. How can I be upset with someone Christ loves :)

 "Mans greatest happiness comes from losing himself for the good of others"
 David O McKay

I know that statement is true. I have felt SO much joy, even on the hardest days!

We had Sarah's baptism and it was so beautiful. She has so much faith!!
Sorry this is so short! but this week has been powerful. And I will tell you about it in a couple weeks!

Love Kaylea

Saved by Grace

Hello friends and Family :)

This week was crazy. Aren't they all? I guess it hit me that I have 4 more weeks. But after reflecting on it, I don't think too much will change when I return home. I still will be strictly obedient and I will still love the Lord.

I think what has impressed me the most about this beautiful mission is how I have been able to get to know the Savior. That through his atonement I can be changed completely! While sitting in church, I heard a phrase that I have heard before, "We are saved by Grace after all that we can do."  THAT hit me so strongly. What is all that I can do? Because I really do NEED his grace. Doing all that I can isn't easy. In fact, I have come to the conclusion that the only way I can know that I am doing all that I can is if I am relying on the Savior, because HE is who will help me reach "ALL that I can".  So really, I just need to trust in his loving care and guidance.

Now is that easy for me? No. Because I get discouraged, and his way doesn't always always seem like the most exciting... in fact, his way scares me. Because often times his way will cause rejections and hurt. But I KNOW that it is worth it. Because his way is the only way to be healed, changed, and happy down the road.

I can feel a glimpse of what down the road is really like every time I feel of the spirit :) I have learned that I must live for today, because there is no guarantee for tomorrow. Before the mission I was always thinking about the future, and I wasn't fully loving the here and now. But if we aren't taking advantage of the here and now, there really won't be any great down the roads for me. Because when I get down that road, I'll be wanting to be somewhere else.

With the Lord's help, I am LOVING this point of my mission. He is helping become all that I can, and enjoying this daily journey.

I love this mission. I wouldn't be where I am today without it.

Love Sister Kaylea Collings

6 Weeks Left!

This week is one that I will Never Forget!

(This is a fun picture that I found on the Ventura Mission facebook page: Mom)

I realize I am down to 6 weeks left... and I always hear "Oh, you should do the six weeks to sexy program and lose all the weight you have gained!" But I have decided to start my own group "six weeks to saggy!"

We had SO MANY things happening, it's crazy! We had Sarah come to a baptism to see what it is like, and HOLY smokes... She was amazing! She kept saying how sacred it was because we have it on a special day, and it's all about baptism, and we even wear different clothes! She felt the spirit so strongly, and she said "It's so crazy! You know that feeling when you have so many emotions build up inside of you and then you are about to cry but it's just bottling up inside you? THAT'S how I have been feeling all week as I have been praying about whether or not I should be baptized!" Wow. I love Sarah and her example. She is diving in 100% and she helps me to increase my faith!! 

We did a lot of service this week. Holy Smokes I am So thankful! 

JUDY!: She is an elderly lady we teach, she was having apartment inspections and we offered to help her clean! We cleaned out mold from the sink and threw away old food for about 2 hours! She has been so sick for 1 whole month. I would imagine it was because she had mold growing everywhere! As we were cleaning, we had the window open and Sister B and I started singing Hymns! Well, what we didn't know was a bunch of elderly people were gathering around the window to listen to us sing! We found out when we finished "Nearer my God to Thee", and an old lady popped her head through the window and said "YOU TWO ARE SOO CUTE!" Judy was so thankful and her heart was softened! She invited us back so that we could teach her more! And I am thankful all the elderly people were able to listen and feel the spirit even if it was just through a window ;)

GENE MARIE!! We helped her clean out her rain gutter and she offered to make us a delicious sandwich! Well... She wanted tomatoes on it but they were all moldy.. And Guess what!!! I think she wanted to kill us because she put the moldy tomatoes on our sandwiches, but not hers!! Oh it was horrid. I kept praying and had to bite around the mold... :( Don't worry prayers kept us safe! :)

I'm sorry you keep getting my poems but they describe my week much better then anything else! So I figured what the heck! Here's another one I wrote this week :)

Endure

My Father sent his Son to suffer and die for me

He even saw my face while enduring Gethsemane

He knew that I would stumble, He knew that I would fall

Into his grace filled arms, only with Him can I stand tall

He beckons, "Come Follow Me" with pleading in his voice

He cautions us to obey God's rules and always make the right choice

"I was blind but now I see" A song we often hear

Our Savior changes hearts and takes away our fears

I trust my Brother, my Savior and Friend

And if I listen closely I too can endure to the end!

I'm excited to see what miracles will be coming this next week! I LOVE being a missionary!!

Love, Sister Kaylea Collings

Sweet Plan of Salvation Lesson

What a week it has been here in Simi! Transfers happened and I will be staying With Sister B! We will still be Sister training leaders! This week was an interesting one. Turns out that ending a mission is more stressful than i EVER thought it could be! I threw up for 2 days... I'm pretty sure out of stress and now my eye ball is Swollen! It kinda looks like a spider bite... but really, I'm not sure at all! I'm short on time but i have a poem i wrote a long time ago that encompasses how I'm feeling right now on my mission!:

Diligence

I will not give up
I will not cool down
The Kingdom is at hand
I want to wear the Crown

When I am Exhausted
When Push comes to Shove
I want to show my father that
My heart is full of love

I'll Show him by my joy
I'll show him in the work I'll do
He'll know I'm a disciple
He'll see it in my attitude.

I'll lift up my head
I'll turn my voice on loud
the kingdom is at hand
I hope my father's proud

We are seeing so many miracles here in Simi! We just got an incredible new investigator! Brother Lang, a member of the ward, thought about one of his friends while he was in the temple! And so he called them and asked them if they would listen to a message from the missionaries! It was incredible! We stopped by with he Langs and taught the plan of salvation! And turns out the man's wife is dying of cancer. It was breast cancer but now it's in her spine. Her pigment is all gone from her face and she is bald, but her spirit was so bright! There were so many tears shed as they looked at my hand drawn plan of salvation pieces. They had hope that even though she was dying, they would be together again! It was such a spiritual experience! I LOVE being a missionary and I love teaching this uplifting and incredible message! I do feel incredible stress, but I also have even more joy!! So it's all worth it!! :) I Love you all!!

Love Sister Kaylea Collings!!!

Plant Killer

We all hello!! This week was another tiring but wonderful week!! :)

We did a lot of service! It was fun, we serve one of our investigators, Gene Marie who is like a glorified tree hugger! She has different water to water each of her plants, because they like different ones... and it makes them happy... apparently!  As I was applying miracle grow to her rose bush, I was telling her about when I watered plants in Provo, and when I forgot to water them they pretty much died, and as soon as I put miracle grow on the plants they came back to life!! I thought that was an impressive story. I thought I would share it with her to prove I knew the power of miracle grow... Well, turns out it's offended her so badly that I had killed a plant... And she turned her wheelchair facing me and said, "Sister Collings that hurts me" and she didn't say a word to me the rest of the day... So... note to self.. no more telling stories about killing plants.

We also cleaned a hoarders home.. We have been working on it for an hour a week in just one room! Week 1 we finally got enough room to open the door! SUCCESS!! Week 2/3 we made a hallway out of all the stuff, and this week we cleared off a desk!!! She has SOOO MUCH stuff! But it's incredible what a difference we are making in that room! Plus, seeing her face after we clean is priceless! :) She is so grateful! And she always says the nicest prayers in our behalf,  just thanking Heavenly Father for her "angels."

Lots of spiritual experiences this week :) I will summarize and it may not make sense... but I can explain it great detail later :)

We taught Sarah, and we read "Approaching the Throne of God with Confidence!" And it was insane how strong the spirit was! A member we brought with us had a VERY similar past as Sarah, and they were all in tears sharing their experiences. At the end of it all, Sarah told us that she knew God brought her and this member together to get strength from one another! BUT She could definitely use some prayers!!

We also taught watched the restoration DVD with Michelle! And sang a song about Joseph Smith, and I was able to bare my testimony about how I came to know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet. It brought me to tears and strengthened my testimony even more. I am So thankful for the opportunity I get to bear my testimony so often! I can feel my faith growing!

We have 2 Return Missionary Sisters in the ward, and I took one of them tracting with me, and Sister Woods took another to all the lessons. These girls are incredible! And it was such a fun day! We found an undercover less active, and a new investigator who is 80, and wants to know more about the plan of salvation! Before we left he said "Thank you for your work of salvation in my behalf!" It was adorable! And very refreshing to meet a man so humble to learn more and such an old age!

Prayer has played a huge role this week :) I have felt Heavenly Father's love so much! It's what gets me through the day!!

I love being a missionary!

MORE QUESTIONS:

Tell us one thing that has impressed you about your mission president and his wife: They have so much light. It motivates me to grow in light and they just make you want to be around them because you feel close to Christ.

Has Sister Felix helped you become a better missionary? If so what has she done? Yes! She is incredible! Honestly, I love how devoted she is to president Felix! She loves him with a pure love. It's motivating and she radiates! Makes me want to work as hard as I can to become that Christlike and selfless!

Does she do any training?  Does she participate in all the zone conferences? If so, what does she do? She speaks at a lot of different meetings and we call them once a week and talk about how we are doing and how our exchanges went.

How many baptisms have you had? I have lost count... I have it written down 15 people I have taught have been baptized, but I have only been to about 8 baptisms :)

What advice would you give to future sister missionaries? To get their personal progress done! I am doing mine again, and everything in there is what I do as a missionary! It's awesome.


Love, Sister Collings!